UFA: Scott Hannan

Traded for during the Capitals 8 game losing streak for potential prospect Tomas Fleischmann, Scott Hannan was brought in to bring some muscle to the blue line. He was a band-aid on a beat up blue line with Tom Poti struggling to stay healthy. Hannan had a single goal this season and four assists in 55 games for Washington. Total numbers is 11 points with six more assists with the Avalanche.

Hannan brings some great experience especially in the playoffs with his years spent in both Colorado and San Jose. More of a stay-at-home defenseman, Hannan played consistent enough not to be a liability and in the end for a defenseman that is a good attribute. He became dependable for staying healthy and playing solid on the back end. A big guy at 6-1, 225 lbs., he uses his size efficiently well.

It is unclear if he was just a rental for McPhee for this season. When GMGM pulled this trade, it was relative early. Acquired in November he was there for the long losing streak and played well inside Bruce Boudreau's defense-first system.

Reasons to keep:

Hannan is a solid defenseman that can log the minutes and is very dependable in almost all situations. He is a good compliment for some of the puck moving defensemen the Caps have playing his stay-at-home style. He isn't afraid of a little contact and his long career experience is invaluable.

Reasons to dump:

At $4.5 million, he is a pretty expensive band-aid. With the acquisition of Dennis Wideman at the trade deadline who also happens to make $4.5 million the easy decision is to let him go to greener pastures. Hannan adds really no offensive assets, but his experience will drop his name on a score sheet or two for assists.

Gut Reaction: The Trade The Morning After

Before the season started, I sat at a table in the upper level between two ice rinks at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. The Caps were having their media luncheon and John Keeley, founder and writer of On Frozen Blog, sat next to me and we talked shop. He asked me questions about how the Caps would fare, if this was a championship team. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't think George McPhee is done, I think they are working on something."

Turns out, I was right. Since August, the Caps have been pursuing a trade using Tomas Fleischmann to possibly beef up their defensemen.

The Capitals were thin on the blue line, there was no doubt about that. While it was nice to see rookies Karl Alzner and John Carlson make the opening night roster, there were questions about the young defensive core and fans griped that it was not experienced enough to go far. McPhee had more than enough room in the salary cap to pursue someone, we just did not know who he was after.

The season would start with no help coming (although we thought the Edmonton Oilers sending Sheldon Souray to Hershey was a possible trade in the mix). Fleischmann's name was splashed on every rumor mill before the opening night face off as the Caps seemed to shop the winger around. But like Souray's time in Hershey, nothing really significant developed.

Young as they may have been, the defensive core turned out not to be that bad. Through 25 games, the Caps' core of defensemen dealt with injuries to veterans Mike Green and Tom Poti and had to fall on Tyler Sloan and transient Brian Fahey to man post. They were able to maintain enough stability to win 17 games, and register a 2.68 goals against average putting them smack in the middle of the league (13th overall). They ranked tenth in the league in shots against per game at 28.7. Not that shabby.

It turns out the Caps did want Scott Hannan before the season started. Perhaps recent injuries to the Avalanche's forward lines convinced them that they could do with out Hannan's services to get scoring back on track. Caps get a veteran defensemen, Colorado gets a talented forward that is on the verge of having a break out year. Now more so since Flash is outside the shadow of Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, and Nick Backstrom.

Fleischmann never panned out the way the Caps had hoped. They wanted Flash to become a 30 goal scoring threat on the second or third line. They moved him from center, to wing, to center again and again. He would drift from line to line and even miss out on some big games in the playoffs because of his, at times, under-achieving play. He would have a career season last year, posting 23 goals and 51 points in 69 games played. Most of those scored early in the season when he posted a nine game point streak. This year he has struggled to get just 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 25 games.

In return, the Caps get a sandpaper defenseman. Hannan, not known for any sort of puck support or offensive threat (in 81 games last season he only posted 2 goals and 16 points), is an agitator as well as a tough guy on the back line. Not so much as a fighter, but a good stay at home defenseman with veteran experience and savvy. Looking to bolster the blue line with a consistent pro, the Caps will most likely use him like a security blanket to Green's rushes up ice.

But Hannan comes at a heavy cap price, nearly soaking up what ever was left of the space McPhee has stored up going into the season. A hefty price tag for a defenseman that is considered marginal when it comes to the NHL defensemen league-wide.

It remains to be seen if this is the final move McPhee is going to make. With Semin's impending contract negotiations, the Caps are looking to squeeze every last drop of their salary cap this year to bring a championship to DC. It is the first time the Capitals have gone outside the organization for a defensemen since they traded Carolina for rental player Joe Corvo.

The move itself is a good one, and the timing seems to be perfect for both sides involved. Hannan adds grit to a blue line that is struggling to stay healthy. Avs get a talented forward that could flourish outside an organization that is deep in talented forwards. Hannan should help the Caps especially in front of the net as more and more teams are looking to create traffic in front of young goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth.

We will see if this is the last move McPhee makes, but I tend to think he has a lot more he wants to do more before the deadline in March.

Caps Make A Move: Flash For Hannan

The Capitals wanted to address their depth on defense and improve on their grit on the blue line. They did that when GM George McPhee traded Tomas Fleischmann to Colorado for 11 year vet, Scott Hannan. Per Caps PR:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have acquired defenseman Scott Hannan from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Tomas Fleischmann, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.
 
Hannan, 31, is an 11-year NHL veteran who has played for Colorado and the San Jose Sharks. The 6’1”, 225-pound defensive defenseman has played 775 career games, recording 30 goals, 150 assists, 456 penalty minutes and a +22 rating. This season Hannan has six assists and a +1 rating while playing all 23 games for the Avalanche.
 
Hannan has played at least 71 games in each of his 11 pro seasons, including 97.2% of the games since he made the NHL full-time in 2000-01. He has averaged 18:37 of ice time per game this season and 22:02 per game in the course of his career. His teams have made the playoffs eight times in 10 seasons prior to this one, playing a total of 73 playoff games.
 
A first-round pick of the Sharks, 23rd overall, in the 1997 Entry Draft, Hannan broke into the league after an all-star career with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. He was a teammate of current Capital Matt Bradley with the Sharks and signed with Colorado as a free agent on July 1, 2007.